Robbie Ashford welcomes Hugh Freeze to Auburn

Auburn has ended its coaching search, ending with a former Ole Miss head coach. Hugh Freeze will be heading to the Plains via Liberty, becoming the third person to lead the program over the last four seasons. A press conference to officially announce the move is expected on Tuesday.

Reactions have poured in over Auburn deciding to make the move on Freeze, including some of their active players. Quarterback Robby Ashford seemed happy with the news, saying he is ready to get to work to handle some “unfinished business.”

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“@CoachHughFreeze Welcome to the Plains, let’s get to work we’ve got unfinished business to handle,” Ashford said via Twitter. “#WarEagle.”

Ashford worked his way into the starting lineup this year for Auburn after originally losing the quarterback battle to TJ Finley. He transferred in before the 2022 season from Oregon, returning closer to his Hoover, AL, home. Now, he will be the incumbent quarterback when Freeze takes over.

In the 12 games Ashford played in, he completed just under 50% of his throws for 1,613 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Most of the positive work was done with his feet, rushing for 710 yards and seven touchdowns.

Once Carnell “Cadillac” Williams took over the program, the ground game was really focused on. Ashford had one of his best games against Alabama in the Iron Bowl to close out the regular season, going for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 17 attempts

There is a lot of potential for Ashford and someone like Freeze could be the right guy to develop him.

While at Liberty, Freeze was able to work with Malik Willis — someone Auburn fans should be quite familiar with. Willis had nearly 7,000 total yards and 74 touchdowns in two seasons under Freeze. He was eventually selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans and has gotten playing time as a rookie.

Once Freeze is on campus and official for Auburn, meeting with the quarterbacks will be one of the top priorities. While the overall thoughts of the room may not know, Ashford seems pretty excited.